A few weeks ago we sold our home in Maryland and moved our stuff down to Asheville, NC, about 500 miles away.
I checked the Department of Transportation site for complaints and found that, if you don't specify, your mover will have you sign a "non-binding estimate", which you don't want to do. You can insist on a "binding estimate", but that will likely come in higher than a "not to exceed binding estimate, which we were glad we did. Some movers will offer you the option of purchasing insurance, as they are only on the hook for 60 cents a pound, or force you to purchase additional insurance outside of their move, which will likely cost three or four times as much.
Good luck!
I checked the Department of Transportation site for complaints and found that, if you don't specify, your mover will have you sign a "non-binding estimate", which you don't want to do. You can insist on a "binding estimate", but that will likely come in higher than a "not to exceed binding estimate, which we were glad we did. Some movers will offer you the option of purchasing insurance, as they are only on the hook for 60 cents a pound, or force you to purchase additional insurance outside of their move, which will likely cost three or four times as much.
Good luck!